This Photographer Proves You Don't Need to Travel Far to Get IG-Worthy Photos

When his shoot plans fell through, Kircy Tan thought of an ingenius way to compensate. "Though it rained, my friends and I decided to continue the shoot along the highway. They said that the outcome might not be good because the area was cluttered and not appealing," he tells Preview. However, with a hint of creativity and some imagination, he was able to transform the most unlikely place into the perfect backdrop for his scenic shots. Inspired by a meme that involves people shooting in the most random places, Kircy gathered his friends for a spontaneous photo walk.

Kircy admits that he isn't a professional photographer, but is armed with an advance photography course he took up while still in college at the Lyceum of the Philippines University - Laguna. One day he stumbled upon international photographer Brandon Woelfel and was greatly inspired. He then started "to look for tutorials on YouTube on how to create his style and tweak it a little bit so [he] can have [his] own branding through photography."

"With proper angle, framing, and editing you can make magic through your photograph," he says. "I am using a 50mm f.18 prime lens and it would be beneficial to my portraits! Lowering the aperture from f/2.5 – f/1.8 creates a bokeh effect and adds impact!"

"And as for my post-processing, I am using Adobe Lightroom to manipulate the colors. I am a fan of teal and orange with HDR effect, but I’m still exploring [and trying out] something new that best fits me," Kircy divulges.

He further shares some of his tips below:

1. Make your background fine or clear. It will create the illusion of a more appealing backdrop.

2. Use framing shots. Blocking other parts of the image will draw attention to your subject.

3. Bokeh is the key. Set the aperture from f2.5- f1.8 to create depth-of-field for extra dimension.

4. Look for leading lines. You can easily see this on streets, alleys, bars, and anything that has a joining line and point.

5. Shoot in raw format. This is a must if you post-process your photos. You can easily manipulate your photos using Adobe Lightroom.

6. Shoot from ISO 100 to ISO 800. For less noise in the final image.

7. Look for pegs online!

8. Keep shooting. There are tons of ways to learn photography—you can attend classes, seminars, and watch YouTube tutorials. But most importantly, just let your creativity flow!